Washington
For the past 11 months, Reign Free has done everything she can think of to keep her catering company open after the pandemic hit — a fight shared by many Black-owned businesses across the United States. As her business dried up, Free has taken out loans from the US government and other lenders and searched for new opportunities, but she wonders how much longer Red Door Catering in Oakland, California can survive the slump. “We’re getting crumbs and it’s not enough.
We’re still having hope, and still trying to stay afloat, but really we’re getting deeper and deeper into the hole,” she told AFP. Racial minorities have borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, with higher rates of death, unemployment and business failure, and less success obtaining federal government assistance intended to provide relief.—APP
